1. Technical Field
This application relates to a surgical cutting instrument, and more particularly to a surgical cutting instrument having a chamber for storing the cut tissue portions.
2. Background of Related Art
Surgical instruments for cutting body tissue are well known. One type of instrument has a pair of scissors type jaws in which either both jaws move or one jaw moves relative to the other fixed jaw in a scissors like fashion, i.e. at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the instrument. An example of this scissors type instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,024 to Falk. Another type of cutting instrument, especially useful in orthopedic procedures for cutting hard tissue or bone, has a cutting blade which is slidable longitudinally in either a distal or proximal direction to sever the body portion. Examples of this type of instrument are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,364 to Hayafuji et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,354 to McGurk-Burleson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,910 to Kajiyama et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,884 to Boebel.
It is also recognized that as these cutting instruments dissect the body tissue, it is advantageous to remove the tissue portions as they are dissected or to store the dissected tissue portions in the instrument. This is especially the case in endoscopic surgical procedures. Endoscopic (minimally invasive) surgical procedures are performed under visualization through either small access ports or directly through small incisions in the body. Therefore, if the dissected body tissue is not removed as it is dissected, the instrument needs to be withdrawn from the surgical site each time a tissue portion is cut, the tissue portion needs to be manually removed from the instrument, and then the instrument needs to be reinserted to the surgical site. These steps need to be repeated until the entire tissue section is removed. This repeated re-insertion of the instrument can be very time consuming, and therefore more expensive, especially in endoscopic procedures, because the surgery is being performed at a remote surgical site. The repeated insertion can also cause complications in endoscopic procedures where access to the surgical site is difficult such as in endoscopic discectomy.
As noted above, the advantages attendant removing or storing the dissected body tissue portions are well known. One way of continuously removing the tissue portion as it is dissected is by utilizing suction. One example of the use of suction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,414 to Yoshida et al. In Yoshida, a cutting member slides longitudinally in a distal direction to cut body tissue positioned in the opening in the instrument and the cut tissue is withdrawn through a suction channel in the inner tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,917 to Evans discloses a rotatable cutting blade for cutting tissue and a suction tube for removing the tissue. The aforementioned patent to Falk discloses a vacuum extraction channel for use with a scissors type cutting instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,884 to Boebel, identified above, has a storage chamber for the cut tissue. The punch assembly is slid in a proximal direction, and the punched out tissue portion is pressed into a tubular receiver member and stored therein. At the end of the procedure, the tissue portions can be removed from the receiver member.
The need exists for an improved cutting instrument for storing dissected tissue portions for removal at the end of the procedure. Such instrument would advantageously be configured to force the tissue sections into the storage chamber to prevent clogging and allow for maximum use of the space in the chamber. The instrument would also advantageously enable easy access and removal of the tissue sections at the end of the procedure.